These delicious healthy sourdough whole wheat pancakes are hearty, filling, easy to make and packed with flavor. Sourdough discard pancakes are the perfect way to use up your sourdough discard.
What are sourdough whole wheat pancakes?
These are pancakes made with sourdough discard, a really great way to use up any starter you discard when feeding your sourdough. The pancakes are also made with whole wheat flour. The sourdough and whole wheat flour together make up these surprisingly tender, fluffy and delicious breakfast.
Why should I make whole wheat pancakes with sourdough starter?
If you are growing your own sourdough at home, you know that you’ll frequently have discard when you remove some of the old starter from the jar, and feed the remaining starter fresh flour and water.
You can throw this away, but it can be a great ingredient in making a lot of recipes. The sourdough starter has a really tangy, distinctive flavor that can add a lot of flavor.
Pancakes are the perfect example! Adding some sourdough starter into the batter gives it some good bacteria (prebiotics) as well as that great sourdough flavor.
These healthy pancakes are made with all whole wheat flour, so they are full of fiber and filling. They still remain light and tender, thanks to the baking powder, baking soda, and the sourdough starter.
What ingredients do you need to make sourdough pancakes?
Sourdough starter: What is sourdough starter? It’s a wild yeast made from flour, water, and a bacteria called lactobacilli. I made my own sourdough starter following a method by Joshua Weissman. It’s easier to mix if the starter is at room temperature .
Milk: I always prefer using whole milk in baking, but you can also use low fat milk
Egg: Room temperature so it mixes in more easily.
Melted butter: unsalted
Sugar: I always like adding just a little to my pancake batter a little to give it that sense of sweetness.
Vanilla
Whole wheat flour: You can also use white all purpose flour, or a 50/50 mix of both
Baking powder and baking soda: for lift
Salt
How to make sourdough whole wheat pancakes:
- Stir together wet ingredients: egg, vanilla, melted butter, milk, and sourdough starter. Set aside
- Stir together dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet: and whisk until just combined.
- Rest the batter: For 15-20 minutes. At the end of this resting time, you can start heating the skillet over medium heat. Add a little butter to it.
- Cook the pancakes: Ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet once hot, and cook on one side for about a minute or until set and bubbles form, then flip and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds to one minute.
Keeping pancakes warm:
Right before you start cooking up the pancakes, heat the oven to really low (200 F, about 95 C). Place a baking sheet in the middle of the oven.
Every time a pancake fully cooks, place it on the baking sheet in the oven and it’ll stay warm while you finish up all the batter. The oven temperature isn’t high enough to dry out the finished pancakes, but just hot enough to keep them all fresh and warm until you’re done with all your pancake flipping.
What to serve sourdough pancakes with:
I like to go simple with some pure maple syrup, and maybe some fresh berries. These would also be great with sliced bananas and pecans/walnuts, plus some chocolate chips for good measure.
Storing leftover pancakes:
Leftover pancakes will store well tightly covered in the fridge for 1-2 days. They still taste really good gently warmed in a microwave.
You can also place them in a single layer on a baking sheet, and place them in a freezer until they freeze, at which point you can combine them all in a freezer bag without them sticking. To enjoy, just pull out however many you need and reheat gently in a microwave 20-30 seconds until warm.
FAQs:
Yes, this recipe is meant for use with sourdough starter or discard. If you’d like another whole wheat recipe that doesn’t need sourdough, try these delicious harvest grain and nut pancakes.
Not at all! Feel free to use regular plain all purpose flour, or a mix of whole wheat and white flour (A 50/50 mix works great).
You can. Although I prefer fresh pancakes, you can make them a day in advance, store them tightly covered in the fridge and gently rewarm them before serving.
If you liked this recipe, you might like:
Harvest Grain and Nut Pancakes
Sourdough Whole Wheat Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoon melted butter 28g
- 2/3 cup milk, plus an extra tablespoon if needed
- 2/3 cup sourdough starter, room temperature, stirred 140g
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoon sugar 25g
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- couple tablespoon butter for cooking
Instructions
- Stir together the egg, vanilla, melted butter, milk, and sourdough starter. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined. Don't over mix. Batter will be thick, but if it's too thick add another tablespoon of milk. Set aside and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place a skillet on the stovetop. When batter is nearly done resting, add a little bit of butter to the pan, and heat on medium. Ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet once hot, and cook on one side for about a minute or until set and bubbles form, then flip and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds to one minute.
- Repeat with the rest of the batter. See recipe notes for tips on keeping the pancakes warm while you cook! Serve with pure maple syrup and any other toppings of your choice.
Mary says
I always have sourdough in my fridge, I use the scrap method from Jake the baker and I love it because you don’t really have to worry about the discard. Can’t wait to try those pancakes, the texture looks divine.
Farah Abumaizar says
Sounds like a great fuss free method! Thanks Mary!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
I’ve never made a sourdough starter. If I did, this looks like an amazing way to use up the remains! I’ll share this with my sister who will love this idea!
Farah Abumaizar says
Thanks Patricia! Really adds a little
something
Michele says
These pancakes were so good and easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Farah Abumaizar says
It is my pleasure Michele!
Claudia Lamascolo says
What a delicious healthy stack of hot cakes, we cant wait to make these !
Farah Abumaizar says
Hope you love them as much as we did!
Gina says
Love the tangy bite using the starter gives these pancakes. A drizzle of honey and I’m all set – so good!
Farah Abumaizar says
Honey sounds perfect with these!